Family seeks refugee who left behind 2,000 books

Sun Lide shows one of the more than 2,000 books that his grandfather, Lin Daozhi, kept at the request of a Jewish refugee from Germany who left the city in 1943. Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT

The refugee, Carl Anger, and his wife, sent Lin a postcard from Germany in 1947. Photo:Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

The family of a late school principal wants to find a Jewish refugee from Germany who left thousands of books in their relative's possession when he left Shanghai in 1943, the family said at a press conference Wednesday.

The refugee, Carl Anger, who worked as the principal of a Jewish school during his stay in Shanghai, entrusted the family's relative, Lin Daozhi, with more than 2,000 English, German and Hebrew books that Anger said he would eventually return to collect, said Pan Lu, Lin's daughter-in-law.

Anger never came back, leaving Lin and his family to protect the books during the turbulent war years and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Pan said. "After keeping these books for seven decades, we are seeking help from the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum to find their owner or his family because the room we use to store these books is going to be pulled down and we are going to move away shortly," Pan said.

The family has tried to write to Anger in Germany with the help of a friend who knows German, Pan said. However, the letter was returned.

"I was touched by Lin's story because I saw how Lin and his family kept their word," said Chen Jian, the museum curator. "It also shows that local residents had a close and harmonious relationship with the Jews when they tried to find shelter in the city."

Pan believes that her family has only a small chance of finding Anger or his relatives, especially since Lin died in 1981 and his son died in 2006. The rest of the family knows little English or German.

"Carl was about the same age as my oldest uncle," Sun Lide, Lin's grandson, told the Global Times. "If he is still alive, he is in his 90s. We hope we can find him or his family with the assistance of the museum."

The museum has contacted the German Consulate-General in Shanghai, which pledged its help finding Anger or his relatives, Chen said.

The refugees museum will help the family move the books to a library in Hongkou district, which will store them until their owner is found, Chen said.